Despite the visitor industry’s strong rebound in 2012, the Hawaii Tourism Authority is falling behind its self-imposed targets designed to increase the number of people who make it to the Neighbor Islands.

Oahu is the only island that is meeting the HTA’s visitor distribution targets this year.

“We look to bring more visitors into the state, but the other thing we’re very conscious of is the carrying capacity for any given island,” said David Uchiyama, vice president of brand management for the HTA. “So we felt we needed to put more emphasis on distribution to the Neighbor Islands if we were going to grow the total.”

The HTA’s goal is for a certain percentage of all visitors to Hawaii to visit each island.

Oahu has exceeded the HTA’s percentage target by 0.9 percentage point through the first nine months of 2012. Maui, which has the most ambitious goal at 32.2 percent, is behind by 2.7 percentage points, and the Big Island is 2.2 percentage points behind its goal of 20.5 percent.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to hit the targets by the end of the year,” Uchiyama said.

Year-to-date, visitor arrivals for the first nine months of the year statewide totaled 5.97 million, a 9.6 percent increase from last year, according to HTA data. And the year-over-year increases on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island are considered a success.

Even so, the HTA is looking at ways to further improve the distribution of visitors to Neighbor Islands, in particular the Big Island and Kauai. Uchiyama said there’s a huge need and opportunity for growth by reintroducing direct international flights to the Big Island.

The HTA has talked with several carriers, including Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Qantas, about that possibility.

“They’re all looking at it,” he said. “We’re trying to see what we can do to entice and bring more visitors there.”

Uchiyama said it would require a commitment from an international carrier before Kona would reinstate services such as customs. WestJet currently provides seasonal direct flights from Canada.

Another initiative the HTA is working on, which is a long-term goal, is to allow Japanese travelers to clear customs before they leave home, much like Canadian travelers are currently able to do.

“The other thing we’re looking at is better distribution on interisland carriers and being able to distribute international travelers from Oahu to Neighbor Islands,” Uchiyama said. “That’s an area we feel we can get a lot more growth.”

The issue, he said, is ease of access. Flights need to be aligned so that an international visitor does not have a long layover in Honolulu before connecting to a Neighbor Island.

Hawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley said the airline has relationships with other carriers to provide that service. And it works with the HTA and its marketing partners, particularly the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, to promote Hawaii as a destination.

Even so, Dunkerley told analysts during an earnings conference call last month that he thinks the airline can improve its service within the Hawaiian Islands.

“I’m not satisfied that we’ve done a really good job in our Neighbor Island business this year,” Dunkerley told analysts. “I think we can do better.”

In an interview for this story, Dunkerley said Hawaiian Airlines continues to refine its interisland travel, and expects that in 2013 customers will see the full benefit of the airline opening its Maui hub in 2011, which already has resulted in an increase in capacity of almost 10 percent.

Hawaiian Airlines currently has 170 daily interisland flights.

“We have long been a huge fan of developing Neighbor Island travel,” Dunkerley said. “We’ve created a Maui hub. We’ve increased the number of seats we fly between the islands, clearly reflecting the fact we think demand for Neighbor Island visits is on the up.”

Hawaiian Airlines also is purchasing turbo-prop aircraft to serve Neighbor Island airports, including those on Lanai and Molokai, which it expects to begin serving in 2013.